Glossary of Terms

Enlightenment-
In the late 1600s to 1700s was called a time of optimism also called the Age of Reason.

Salons-
Meetings in which intellectual and political ideas were shared.

Social contract-
An agreement in which people and their government would give up some of their freedom and in return, the government would provide them with peace, and security.

Philosophers-
The name given to philosophers during the Enlightenment.

Enlightened despots-
Monarch's during the time of the enlightenment that developed a system of government that reflected the enlightened ideas.

Geocentric theory-
The belief that the sun, moon and stars revolved around the earth.

Scientific Revolution-
The time during the 1500s when people began to challenge traditional authorities, posed new theories about the world and developed procedures to test their ideas.

Scientific method-
Identifying a problem, forming a hypothesis, experimenting and recording data and analyzing the results to form a conclusion.

Heliocentric theory-
The theory that the sun was the center of the universe and the earth was rotating around the sun.

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